Some will find its look and concept tired and defunct, but slow paced strategy titles are still big business. If anything, it's good to have the choice of another franchise in English. It's just a shame that the potential for something great has been squandered by a lack of sheen.

If you're a Pirates of the Caribbean fan, have a friend, sibling or girlfriend to play it with and aren't yet burnt out on the LEGO series this might be one for you. Everyone else should probably think twice.

If you're a Pirates of the Caribbean fan, have a friend, sibling or girlfriend to play it with and aren't yet burnt out on the LEGO series this might be one for you. Everyone else should probably think twice.

If you're a Pirates of the Caribbean fan, have a friend, sibling or girlfriend to play it with and aren't yet burnt out on the LEGO series this might be one for you. Everyone else should probably think twice.

Front Mission Evolved can sit well with mech game fans especially with its multiplayer. However as a third-person action shooter not very much stands out unless you quite enjoy boss battles with lots and lots of strafing, reloading, repairing and firing volley after volley of missiles, rockets and bullets.

Front Mission Evolved can sit well with mech game fans especially with its multiplayer. However as a third-person action shooter not very much stands out unless you quite enjoy boss battles with lots and lots of strafing, reloading, repairing and firing volley after volley of missiles, rockets and bullets.

Front Mission Evolved can sit well with mech game fans especially with its multiplayer. However as a third-person action shooter not very much stands out unless you quite enjoy boss battles with lots and lots of strafing, reloading, repairing and firing volley after volley of missiles, rockets and bullets.

Neverwinter is a polished, if uninspiring MMO. There's a welcome fluidity to combat, but it doesn't do anything innovative, taking the successes of Star Trek Online and implementing them in a D&D world, as well as borrowing from other post-World of Warcraft action-orientated MMOs. Ultimately, it'll live or die on the lasting success of The Foundry, which promises potentially unlimited creative content that will let you experience stories far beyond the cookie-cutter nature of the ones in the main storyline.

Reign isn't a bad game at all, and it's surprisingly well-balanced given the tremendous scope and ambition on show; but that's a breadth that comes at a price, as none of the various elements in your kingdom ever feels completely well realised, leading to a lack of personality and ultimately forgoing that familiar Civdrive to play long into the night. If you want to test your management skills in one of the deepest strategy games of the year however, delve right in.

We're off the opinion that the worst that can happen to a game is it being uninspiring – Northern Crusades isn't a bad game, but neither is it a particularly good game. It simply is and it's hard to give a passionate answer either way as to whether it's worth your time.

While I consider myself a veteran of strategic RPGs, frequently I found myself frustrated by Aarklash and annoyed by the lack of depth to many of the systems that support the combat - looting and equipping characters has ever felt so much like a chore, while the puzzles you'll face are an unwelcome obstacle, lacking entirely in originality or ingenuity.

For all its Bioshock-inspired environments Dead Money falls short delivering on its premise. At 800 points for an eight-hour adventure it's certainly value for money but when the quantity far outweighs the quality then this is one adventure you can miss.

It’s essentially an enhanced remake of the original with new 3D graphics applied. There’ll be a certain feeling of monotony when playing through the title, so players shouldn’t expect a fantastical time that revolutionizes the genre.

If you want to be scared out of your mind for an hour or so, feel free to get Slender: The Arrival. If you consider that the only prerequisite for a horror game, it gets top marks. Trouble is video games have to have more than that, and this is where The Arrival falls down.

None of the single pieces of Darkstar are particularly shoddy (voicework aside), but mixed together they form an experience that's largely devoid of anything memorable, but also one that remains hypnotically sedate until eventual boredom sets in.

If you put the lack of missions aside as a consequence of the budget price tag, Banished is still a flawed game. There's brilliant concepts and a core that shines, but a troublesome interface and a general lack of breadth of content is clearly an issue.

Dogfight 1942 is a decent arcade flyer that's ultimately kept grounded by an insubstantial campaign and a lack of anything interesting in the multiplayer department, and while it may pass an afternoon, don't expect much in the way of longevity.

There's a lot of content on offer for the reduced price, and Lucius will certainly appeal to puzzle enthusiasts who want a darker edge to their adventuring, or murder enthusiasts who'd like to give their brain a work out rather than their stabbing arm.

Things feel like they're going to start hotting up in Cognition, and while nothing's blowing me away in general I am enjoying the series. However, certain things definitely require a strong polish, and I hope Phoenix Online has time to make improvements before the next episode.

Putting it all together, Steam Marines may be a tasty little challenge for some, but it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Perhaps it’ll be a nice addition to a rogue fan’s collection, and maybe a few indie diehards would like to pick it up to see what it’s all about.

It doesn't do anything new or exciting, but nor does it offend in any great way. There are plenty of little mistakes, and just not enough to make them forgiveable. It's a pretty average game with decent presentation. For something a bit more time consuming or in depth, I'd look elsewhere. If you just want a distraction then maybe.

Years of waiting, and we're presented with a title that still feels unfinished. Gran Turismo 5's main frustrations come from the fact that, at times, the game is entertaining and a joy to play. At other times, it had us questioning if Polyphony understand what the current generation of consoles are capable of.

There are sparks of inspiration here and a beautifully realised setting, but beneath that veneer of intrigue lies gameplay that just doesn't cut it with the best. There's just about enough to enjoy in this broken version of 80's Seattle, just expect to be frustrated in digging out the treats.

Brink is an extremely confused piece of software, that isn't quite sure exactly what it is, or what it's meant to be doing. When it gets into its stride and the gameplay flows, there are moments of beauty to behold. For the most part, however, it's all a bit irksome, as you battle with server issues, single player modes that aren't really single player at all, and a severe lack of direction.

Dungeon Siege III falls victim to its lack of ambition. With a little extra guts, the developers could have installed an engaging narrative, memorable characters and an online component that would prolong the title's life. Instead, what we have is an emotionless, unrewarding journey that shies away from doing anything special.

Dungeon Siege III falls victim to its lack of ambition. With a little extra guts, the developers could have installed an engaging narrative, memorable characters and an online component that would prolong the title's life. Instead, what we have is an emotionless, unrewarding journey that shies away from doing anything special.

There’s fun, then, to be had with Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, especially for those familiar with the original series, but in following a “see what sticks” approach to adding content rather than focusing on exploring and updating the franchise’s core mechanics, Sanzaru have ended up with a game that’s caught somewhere between the past and present and, no matter the nostalgia, that isn’t quite good enough in 2013.

If you're willing to put in a good 5-6 hours learning the foibles of the interface, and then spend the rest of your time with the game wishing it was better, there is something to be said for the setting and the heart of the action that lies beneath. It's just not enough to overwhelm the tide of poor UI decisions that unfortunately sit dominant on top.

Orcs Must Die is fun but in a limited, begrudgingly acknowledged sense. It's lacking a spark: something compelling to make you play beyond the first five minutes, or even through the first five minutes.

Had the core gameplay been better polished then Naughty Bear would have been able to get away with having only a few solitary environments to explore, but as it stands it's a hell of a lot of fun for a couple of hours, but that's your lot.

There's just so little to do, and if you don't like commenting on videos you won't see anything here but a bunch of crazy confusing videos. Lovely idea, not for me or people like me, but a community of people already love it so feel free to ignore me and give it a go.

We actually worry about Kalypso in general at the moment as well, as few of their games to date have been that well received. We had high hopes for Legends of Pegasus. It pains us to see them dashed once again.

Aside from those enjoyable new Dutch republics, however, a lot of the new mechanics in Res Publica feels like content Paradox didn't have time to slot into previous expansion Wealth of Nations, so it's a little disappointing to see it jammed into another content pack rather than simply patched in.

Impire does have an interesting approach to resources, with its above world raids (it’s a 2D map) and points system of dungeon upgrades based on performance but, ultimately, Impire is flawed, conceptually and technically.

If you’re a casual MMO gamer and like the nice quiet solo life then look elsewhere – co-operation is vital in the later stages for increasing wealth and your characters power, it’s just too bad the chat and group system makes that too, a chore.

Despite a great deal of attention obviously being poured into the environments (both sea and land), there’s a distinct lack of various aquatic hazards that would make Ship Sim far more immersive; namely tides and currents.

I loved Empire Earth and still do to this day, but Empire Earth III is literally in a universe of its own. It barely takes anything of worth from its root and instead we are left with an unremarkable real-time strategy.

A mediocre game that I didn’t mind spending some time on. There are enough interesting factors to be engaging, but enough drawbacks to keep it from reaching the levels of enjoyment that it had every possibility of achieving.

Probably the most important thing to consider with Second Chance Heroes is that it’s a game which doesn’t take itself seriously. The main problem this posed for me though was that instead of doing so in a charming manner, I was ultimately left questioning why I should either.

Unfortunately Nail'd's core gameplay doesn't do quite enough to justify stripping back all of those extraneous details. It's a game that's begging for a little more refinement, visual polish and structural content; and without those in place it struggles to elevate itself above the frustrations inherent in its erratic engine and course design.

Unfortunately Nail'd's core gameplay doesn't do quite enough to justify stripping back all of those extraneous details. It's a game that's begging for a little more refinement, visual polish and structural content; and without those in place it struggles to elevate itself above the frustrations inherent in its erratic engine and course design.

Unfortunately Nail'd's core gameplay doesn't do quite enough to justify stripping back all of those extraneous details. It's a game that's begging for a little more refinement, visual polish and structural content; and without those in place it struggles to elevate itself above the frustrations inherent in its erratic engine and course design.

We don't want to say Naval War was disappointing, because it wasn't really – the preview stage showed us a simple, yet well-made title that does exactly what it says on the tin – we still couldn't help but find the game surprising over all though, and not in the good way.

What we're left with is a quirky combination of tones and systems that never really mesh together to create an engaging whole. The game feels like with a bit more depth, length and ambition it could've given us a pretty unique experience.

It is what it is…a fairly mediocre game aimed at being a marketing plug on a movie franchise. With those expectations it succeeds, and for a random afternoon of whack a mole with a turtle and a golf club it’s enjoyable.

The only ray of light was the amazing, and well out of place, graphics which are both visually stunning and seductive. Gameplay is a repetitive mental abuse and the plot would make baby Jesus cry, there I said it.